Heathcote is an intentional community located 30 miles north of Baltimore, MD and 20 miles south of York, PA. It is nestled in a narrow wooded stream valley on a 44 acre community land trust plus a 68 acre plot of woods that`s owned by some of our members. We are a community of friends and family who choose to live cooperatively and consciously create a better way of life. We strive to care for one another and for the natural systems that nurture us.



Members live in a 150 year-old grain mill, a 100 year-old farmhouse, a 200 year-old log cabin, and several outbuildings. We plan to build alternative, energy-efficient group housing with individual and family units. We are in the process of renovating the mill to improve our shared living spaces.



Demonstration Site

We are in the process of re-creating Heathcote as a permaculture demonstration site. This includes several gardens which supply much of our food, as well as ongoing projects such as a new greenhouse, composting toilet, and long-term plans for a new community building.



Permaculture Design Courses



The course will include readings, homework, lectures, discussions, field trips and hands-on projects, and will cover topics such as:



Permaculture ethics, principles and design process.

Ecosystem dynamics and ecological restoration.

Strategies for managing energy, soils, water and wastes.

Organic gardening, forest gardening and edible landscaping.

Creating a permaculture design for the host site.